Mount Zhaobao Scenery Zone
3 min readMount Zhaobao Scenery Zone is located in the northeast corner of Zhenhai urban area with the Yong River on its south and the East China Sea to its north.Facing Mount Golden Rooster across the river，it has an extremely important geographical position，which indicates a strategic and military significance in history and was once called as“Yumen Gate of Eastern Zhe jiang Province.”Mount Zhaobao Scenery Zone is a national AAAA-level scenery zone with a history of more than 1，000 years with an integration of natural landscape and culture of coastaldefense works and Buddhism.Since its opening up to public in January，1982，it has been attracting more than 300，000 tourists every year.In 1987，it was honored as one of the ten grand scenic spots of Ningbo.It boasts many relics of coastal defense works and was listed as one of the national key cultural relic protection units by the State Council in November，1996.
Mount Zhaobao Scenery Zone was built in March，1983.Covering a total area of 27.6 hectares，it is made up of three parts，namely，the scenic spots on the mountain of 22.6hectares，the submontane intensive treasure lake scenery of three hectares and Zhenhai Seaport Coastal Defense Historical Memorial Hall of 2hectares After more than two decades of construction and development，the scenery zone has comprised many spots of multitudinous features such as Weiyuan City built on the top of Mount Zhaobao in the Ming Dynasty.Lu Tang，the Magistrate of Zhenhai，and Qi Jiguang，the famous general in the resistance war against Japanese pirates.In the Qing Dynasty，Lin Zexu，a national hero，made several attempts to resist foreign aggression on Mount Zhaobao during his stay in Zhenhai.The stele inscriptions standing proudly in Weiyuan City given by important military and political officials in the Ming and Qing dynasties are plain and powerful in their handwriting.
Baotuo Temple，which was originally moved from Putuo Temple，was flourishing for a while during the period of the Ming and Qing dynasties with many guests here for worship.At present，when it is the Buddha Birthday or the Spring Festival，there is flaming incense and candles and pilgrims with millions of tourists and guests coming from all over the country.Guanyin Attic among the bamboo and pine trees is tranquil and elegant.Reflected in the setting sun，it is more beautiful.Aozhu Pagoda，standing erectly and tall，is one of the famous scenic spots of Mount Zhaobao.Standing on the north peak of Mount Zhaobao，it has a bird’s-eye view of Zhenhai Seaport with its posture magnificent as usual.
Located at the south foothill of Mount Zhaobao，Zhenhai Seaport Coastal Defense Historical Memorial Hall is a beautiful memorial landscape of culture and history in itself for its important geographical location proximate to mountains and sea.The historical relics of coastal defense works are exhibited in the hall with vividness under the assistance of modern science and technology.It reproduces the scenes of the resistance wars against foreign invasion by such countries as Britain，France，and Japan in different historical periods.Other scenic spots are also worth visiting including the City of Moon，Banshan Pavilion，Chess Lawn，the Monument and Memorial Pavilion of Lord Wu，Purple Bamboo Forest，Stone Inscriptions of the Cliff，Anyuan Gun Battery，the Memorial Hall of Sino-French War，etc.When you get to the top of the mountain and have a far look at the surroundings:the far-stretched ocean is connected with the sky and Zhoushan Islands are presenting themselves vaguely in the distance.All you feel is total ease and pleasure，which makes your tour here worthwhile.
